Water conservation is becoming increasing more important. A significant source of water consumption is the water used in flushing toilets. As is well known in the art, several problems and difficulties are encountered in providing suitable means for flushing controlled amounts of water from a toilet water tank.
One of the most common flushing apparatuses in use today utilizes a ball cock supply valve that controls the inlet of water into the toilet tank. A buoyant float ball is connected to the ball cock by means of a trip lever and as the toilet tank is filled with water, the buoyant ball rises. The upward motion of the buoyant ball is transmitted to the ball cock supply valve through the trip lever until, at a predetermined water level, the ball cock shuts off the water inlet to the toilet tank. In most toilets, the water level in the tank may be adjusted by means of a screw-set mechanism located in the ball cock supply valve. Once the water level in the tank is set, further adjustment is not required and a consistent volume of water will be discharged each time the toilet is flushed.
In addition to the ball cock supply valve, a second valve means is needed for controlling the flushing of the toilet, namely a flush valve. Typically the flush valve comprises a flapper that seals water into the toilet tank. When the trip lever or handle on the outside of the toilet tank is depressed to initiates the flush of the toilet, the trip lever activities a trip arm to lift the flapper and allow water to exit the tank into the toilet bowl for the flush cycle.
Finally, a tank refill tube is commonly integrated with the water supply valve and the flush valve to ensure that the toilet trapway refills with water after the flush is completed.
A flush valve mechanism for controlling the flushing action of water through the water outlet of a toilet tank is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,163. The valve taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,163 is a dual activity flush valve having a float assist, the operation of which permits the complete drainage of the water in the tank for a full flush. The flush valve operates by means of a pair of lever arms whereby one arm operates to lift up a vertical tube for limited flushing and the other arm operates to lift both the vertical tube and an ancillary float assist that extends the opening time of the valve until the entire water volume is depleted. Such a valve system is manufactured by Plasson Maagan Michael Industries Ltd. (“Plasson”).
The present invention provides a dual flushing assembly comprising dual handles for use with currently available components such as conventional ball cock supply valves and flushing valves as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,163 and manufactured by Plasson. Thus, when one wishes to flush only liquid waste, one of the dual handles will be responsible for a partial flush and when one wishes to flush both solid and liquid waste, a second handle will operate to effect a full flush.